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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. current — happening now
  3. hand — help
  4. current — electric
  5. march — the month
  6. row — a line
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cell — in biology
  10. last — finally
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. last — final
  14. cell — a phone
  15. last — to go on
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. row — to paddle
  18. ground — crushed
  19. march — music
  20. current — of water
  21. march — the month
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com